


They Just Showed Up One Day And...Asserted Themselves

by fearlessdragon555



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Child Papyrus and Sans, Gaster mentioned - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, OC Monsters - Freeform, baby bones, traumatic past
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-19
Updated: 2016-04-30
Packaged: 2018-05-27 18:39:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6295399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fearlessdragon555/pseuds/fearlessdragon555
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The storekeeper remembers how little skeletons appeared out of nowhere and made their life in Snowdin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Little Skeletons in Town

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo, crossposted this in Fanficition.net

It happened on a particularly slow day. 

Everyday was a slow day in do-nothing Snowdin, but that day was a special type of boredom. The family of snowdrakes that usually bought supplies for dinner were off camping in waterfall. Meanwhile the all the dogs in town were in Grillby’s celebrating some pups birthday.

I had existentially played Sudoku for a full nine hour work day. I guess this was the universe’s cue to throw a giant wrench into my life. Because, you know, why did I deserve a small day of rest? 

After a day with no costumers I was about to call it quits. With the store’s keys jiggling in my hands, I walked up to the front door. That’s when I saw two white head tops through the little window I installed in the door.

Feeling a little annoyed that the first costumers of the day decided to show up now, I returned to my post and got ready to do some actual work. The shop doorbell tinkled with the arrival with two young skeletons, both of which I’d never seen before.

Odd, it’s a rare occasion for someone I didn’t recognize to enter my shop. Snowdin was an everyone knows everyone sort of town. However, there were monsters that lived in the surrounding forest. Some monsters required a more natural way of living instead of an industrialized one. Whatever their origin was, I didn’t question it. It wasn’t my place. 

Instead, I watched as the pair walked in, hand in hand. The bigger one seemed to be to be shy. He entered with a cautious pace, staring at the floorboards as he did so. He wore an over-sized jacket that emphasis his tininess and his timid nature adding on to his overall adorableness.

But it was his face that caught my attention. He wore what seemed to be a permeant smile that did not match with the bandage on his right eye. It covered up most of the unseen damage but I could see the skull above his eye slightly cracked.

A smaller skeleton had a tight grip on the bigger one’s hand. His eyes shined bright with excitement. He was much younger than what I assumed was his brother. He was still losing baby teeth. With no lips to hide anything, I could see a small gap in the front of his mouth. 

My heart melted from the cuteness in front of me. I’ve always loved children, despite never have being a mother. I was the oldest of five little bunnies growing up, I think that contributed to my love for kids. 

Before I could say anything to these little strangers, the younger one ran right up to my counter. He slammed a huge, red glove on the counter and lifted it away, leaving behind about 30 G.

“Me and my brother would like a house, please”.

At first, I was confused. Not sure why these boys thought 30 G was enough or why they thought I had any authority in that field, perhaps it was because I’m the only shopkeeper open right now… But, I had guessed it was just a game. The two of them wanted to play adult for a while.

“Sure” I said with the higher pitch voice you use on children. I put 1 G in the cash register and handed the rest back to the little guy. “Here’s your change sir, let me show you your new home.”

I was lucky that in that moment I remembered that there was an empty tool shed at the east side of town. It be a nice place for the boys to play before they went home or their parents picked them up.

“Follow me, please” I called as I left the store out. The boys trotted behind me, going back to holding hands. It was such a precious scene, along the road I kept turning my head to see little brothers. After a few head turns, I started to notice that the space between us was growing.

I stopped, waiting for them to catch up. As soon as I stopped, they did too. The older one even took a step back.

Were they purposely keeping a distance? Well, the younger one seemed to be mindlessly copying him. But the older one was staring me down warily. Did I do something wrong? My constant turning around must have freaked him out. I keep the led, making sure to stare straight ahead this time.

“Welp, here we are. There might be some tools in there, but the monster who used to own this shed moved out a long time ago. So, we kind of use this place as a community tool shed.” Or rather a community garbage. I was pretty sure no one used the tools anymore, so it’d be fine if they accidently broke anything.

The smaller own let out a cry of excitement and rushed inside. I stepped inside as well so I could watch the little guy jump up and down. He ran to every nook and carney, examining them thoughtfully before going back to running around. I couldn’t help but to chuckle at his energy.

“Sans! Sans! Get in here, this is the bestest house ever!” the little one exclaimed.

I turned to see the bigger skeleton, who I am now guessing is named Sans…Or perhaps it is a nickname of some sorts? Either way he stood just outside the shed in the snow, made no effort to move or say anything. The little one let out a huff and went back to exploring the small shed. It was about time I left the skeletons to their play.

“Well, have fun being homeowners you two. If you need anything just come to the store” I waved good-bye but neither of them were paying attention. Letting out another chuckle, I headed back to my store. The sound shuffling feet and crunching snow filled the air. Turning, I saw that Sans wasn’t standing outside anymore.

He had waited for me to leave before going in the shed himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Critiques are always welcomed!


	2. A small incident part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To everyone who has commented, thank you so much. You have no idea how happy your support made me. I was screaming internal while reading them. So again, thank you so much. I hope you enjoy another chapter.

Early the next day a recurring thought ran through my head. My theory was that the skeletons had lived in the forest but…what if they didn’t. What if they took their fun a little too far, what if they came from far away.

Their parents could be tearing up Hotlands looking for them and instead of returning lost children to their homes, like I should have, I provided them a way to stay in Snowdin. But, they were probably back home. The two are too young to be in a rebellious phase where they’d want to run away. Plus it’s been a full day, they probably got bored and went home. Or, with nowhere to sleep, the brothers gave up their little adventure and went home. I wouldn’t pick up the paper tomorrow and read the headline ‘Snowdin Bunny Kidnaps Two Children’…Right? 

So, I was walking to the shed. It didn’t mean anything. I just stupidly paranoid because the boys looked so small and helpless. It was just motherly instincts or something. Besides. checking to make sure is what a responsible adult would do. I even took a leisurely stroll, going as slow as possible to convince myself that this wasn’t anything urgent.

But as soon as I got there I was greeted with the sight of a small skeleton right outside the shed, drawing shapes in the snow with a twig. Do my best to calm my rising panic, I walked up to the young monster and knelt beside him.

“Hey, remember me?” He responded with an enthusiastic nod. I took a deep breath wondering why he was still here. Did they really run away from home? Why hadn’t I realized that until now? Still, I needed to stay cool and collected. I needed to collect as much information as I could without alarming them and making them run again.

“My name is Digger, yeah I know, very original name for a bunny” I chuckle a bit. The little skeleton laughed too not really knowing what so funny.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Oh, I have the coolest name ever! Do you want to know it?” I nod, I mean that’s why I asked.

“I’m Papyrus”

This was good start. “That is a cool name!” I replied in fake awe “Papyrus, I have another question. Where are your parents?” He tipped his head a bit in confusion. I reflected his confusion. Did he not have that word in his vocabulary? He wasn’t that young.

“Where is the monster that takes care of you?” I tried.

Immediately, Papyrus pointed a bony finger at the shed. “He’s in there but he won’t come out to play” he grumbled.

“No not your brother, I mea-“ I was interrupted by the sound of a creaky door. A shy face peered from the doorframe. 

“Hello, maybe you can help me out. Can you tell me where your parents are?” I asked, hoping the older one would better understand.

He replied but I missed the words, the skeleton’s voice was barely above a whisper. That’s when I noticed that Sans was shaking. I hoped it was from the cold, I mean he couldn’t be scared of me. Though, his actions yesterday proved otherwise.

“Bye Ms. Digger” Papyrus gave me a wave and headed toward his brother.

“Wait, I need to get you guys home” but Papyrus didn’t stop. Instinctively, I lightly grabbed the skeleton’s shoulder.

“Let go of him!” San screamed hoarsely. His voice clearly wasn’t used to yelling and neither was I. I was too shocked to move my hand, at first. Every lingering moment I left my hand on his brother, Sans’ face revealed more fear.

“Don’t be mean to Ms. Digger” Papyrus tried to scold, oblivious to his brother’s growing panic.

Papyrus started moving and I was able to remove my hand. The whole transgression had only lasted a few seconds but Sans had changed considerable. His shaking was subtle at first, but now he was like a leaf. His one uninjured eye held giant, blue tears. Strangest of all, it seemed little specks of blue light were coming from behind Sans’ bandaged eye.

“Okay okay I-I’m sorry” I wasn’t sure what to do. I was backing away slowly with my arms held out in front of me, the way someone would when confronting an enraged dog. I watched as Papyrus joined up with his brother and slowly shut the door.

Now what? The kids were still in shed and I had no idea where their real home was. It was time to ask for help. Luckily, I knew the exact monster to talk to about this. 

With a destination in mind I took a step forward, only to trip and fall face first into the snow. I let out a dull cry as an aching pain enveloped my front side. Today just wasn’t my day. Turning back, I tried to identify the object I tripped on.

What I found was a mysterious piece of metal. Curiously, I tugged at it only to find that most of was buried in the snow. I started digging around the area. What I found was slightly disturbing.

Someone had buried pieces of broken tools. Metal parts ripped off from their wooden handles, splinters sprinkled in the snow. Screwdrivers bent, shovels with its metal chipped off, even a hammer with bite marks in it.

It looked like the incident wasn’t Sans’ first meltdown of the day.

“Something is very wrong” Azul Kid finally said after hearing me recount the past day’s events. Azul was a close friend of mine. She was a lizard that lived in Snowdin with her husband. She didn’t have any kids, at least not yet, but she seemed like the monster that would know what to do.

She set her hot cocoa on the store’s counter. “You were smart to not aggravate them further. They might have run away to a different town. Best we don’t approach them, but we should definitely keep an eye on them.”

“So you think they ran from home. Their parents must be worried sick. We have to find them” I said with resolve.  
Azul gave me a sad look “No, I don’t think we do.”

“What do you mean?”

“Digger, there’s a reason why he’s acting like that. I have a feeling it’s not a very happy reason.”

I still wasn’t sure what she meant. There was no way a parent would hurt their child. At least, not a monster parent. That might something human families did, but monsters were smarter than that. I mean, what’s the point of having a kid if you weren’t going to love it.

“I… don’t think that’s what happening.” I finally replied. I was certain there was another reason.

Azul said nothing, she just took another sip. “Either way, the best course of action is to get those boys food and proper bedding. Also, one of us is going to have to go the capital.”

I leaned back against the wall “If one of us visits the ‘tree historian then we’ll be able to contact their parents.” The family tree historian (‘tree historian for short) was a monster whose job was to have a record of every monsters’ family.

Every time a monster gets married or gives birth they are supposed to report it to the guy. His office, which should hold the information we needed, was located near the castle in New Home.

“I should be the one to go. You’re better at dealing with these situations.”

Azul slowly blinked “I’m not sure that’s true, but if that’s what you want” she glanced at the clock hanging on the wall “If you leave now you should be home before nightfall.”

I nodded “Alright, I’m going to leave the place unlocked. Take whatever you need for the boys, just make sure to lock up when you’re done.” I tossed her keys and got my coat from the coat hanger. I felt much more relieved. I knew Azul would be able to help them.

My head felt so much clearer now that I had a game plan. It was time to get some little skeletons home.


	3. A Useless Trip to the Capital

Riding on the ferry was very comforting to me. Most monsters get sick from constant movement, but to me it’s like being in your mother’s arms when she rocks you to sleep. If it wasn’t so wet and cold I would have probably fallen asleep. 

That’s when it occurred to me that the boys sleep on the cold, hard ground last night. I felt a rush of anger surge through me in that moment. Why didn’t they just home? When I showed them the shed yesterday my intention was that they’d realize it wasn’t fun to be alone and give up on their little adventure. 

And yet, they didn’t. That was the persisting thought that carried out the ride to Hotland. My brain just wouldn’t accept this mystery to be unsolved. So, as I rode elevator to elevator to get to the capital, I began to theorize.

Maybe their parents were dead. No, that didn’t make sense. I would have read it in the paper. Or if I missed it, someone would take care of the boys. No one would let orphans go off by themselves. If no neighbors or family friends would take them in then at the very least the Royal Guard would have found them a new home. 

Speaking of things that should be in the paper, shouldn’t a missing child report be on the news. To be fair, I hadn’t watched the news today. But, I read the newspaper when I first woke up. And yesterday, I tuned in to both forms of communication. There was nothing about run away skeletons.

Things would be explained once I got there, I told myself. I was working myself into a frenzy with these questions. Even if I didn’t get all the answers, some light would be shed on the situation and I’d be able to come up with a solution. 

I was horribly wrong.

“Sorry there are no monsters named Sans and Papyrus” a dragon in a business suit informed me nonchalantly. He was shuffling through the piles of books he had around the office.  
I shifted uncomfortably in the leather chair I was sitting in. “That can’t be right’ I explained “They’re in Snowdin right now. Can you check again?”

I didn’t believe that he had done a very through check. Coming to castle, I expected everything to be neat and professional. But, the ‘tree historian’s office was in ruins. Pillars of books were left scattered across the room. Official looking papers were left on the floor or shoved messily into shelves. You couldn’t even see his desk under the layers of envelopes, notecards, and post-it notes. 

The only professional thing was the before mentioned leather chair for visitors. And I guess the bear janitor behind me. He was trying to clean up, but I didn’t how he could differentiate garbage from legal documents. For all I knew, the crumpled up paper he just throw away was Sans and Papyrus’ papers.

“What species are they?” the historian asked calmly, sensing my rising frustration. “It’ll help me narrow down my search.”

“Skeletons.”

The room went silent. 

“Um” the dragon scratched the scales on the back of his head “Sorry ma’am, that’s a mistake. Skeletons have been extinct for a while now.”

“…What?”

“Skeletons were always a rare monster, but recently the last one died suddenly” the historian explained.

“No, there’s two in Snowdin as we speak” I was getting tired of his incompetence.

“Well if that’s true then the species is saved. Asgore will be happy.” he said and began to write something down on a post-it note. “You should bring them here to get register.”

I sighed deeply. I shouldn’t have to do that, they should already be registered. “How can two extremely rare monsters just go unnoticed?”

He shrugged, I had a feeling he didn’t believe my story.

“They didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Are you sure that the last skeleton didn’t have children?”

“Who, Gaster?” the janitor behind suddenly spoke up. “Nah, he spent too much time in his lab to have kids.”

“Huh” the historian looked at his employee quizzically “How do know that?”

The bear monster made a ‘tsk’ sound. “I used to have a life before I was your servant.” The bear walked up to me and leaned against my chair. “I was on the research team at the lab before the incident.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you used to be a scientist” the historian added in genuine awe.

He ignored him and turned his attention towards me “Can I talk to these skeletons?”

I raised an eyebrow “Why, didn’t you just say they weren’t related.”

“Yeah, but I might be able to identify them. I used to have a lot of connections with skeletons” he beamed a proud smile.

“You can talk to them when she brings them here to get registered” the historian insisted. Looks like he was roping me into bring them here. 

“Y-yeah” I gulped. I could barely talk to them, never mind moving them to the opposite end of the underground. “Though, it’s going to take a while. My store got me pretty busy.” I lied “My next free day might not be for a couple of…” I tried to calculate how long it would take to get earn the skeletons trust “months.” 

I silently curse myself. Months was a suspiciously long time. They’d think this whole thing was a lie.

“Okay, we’ll be here” the historian gave me a thumbs up. It was hard to tell if he was sincere or not.

It didn’t matter either way. I started to collect my things “Alright, I’ll see you then. Thank you for your help.” The nonexistent help. I had learned nothing, in fact I was more confused than before.

“Anytime!” the dragon waved a good-bye as began to leave the office. 

I was in a pretty sour mood as left the office, that’s why I didn’t notice it at first. It wasn’t until I was shutting the door behind me did I see the janitor’s enraged stare boring into me.


	4. Cinnamon rolls with cinnamon bunnies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should say something, I just don't know what. I want you guys to know that I'm extremely thankful for the support. When you leave a comment or a kudos it turns me into giddy little girl. So yeah, enjoy another chapter.

“So then as I leaving, he shoots me a dirty look!” I finished my quick summary to Azul.

I got home sooner than I expected. There was nothing to do after receiving absolutely nothing useful, so I went straight to Snowdin in disappointment. I found Azul outside near the shed. We spent the past few minutes catching each other up on our day’s quest. 

“Looks like we both were unsuccessful” Azul sighed, nodding towards the shed.

On the doorsteps lied some of my homemade cinnamon bunnies packed in undamaged plastic wrapping. Beside them were neatly folded blankets and pillows. 

Azul had left them there in hopes that the boys would find them when they opened the door. She left and an hour later she returned to check if the items were taken. They weren’t, they were still sitting outside untouched. She then tried knocking but to no avail.

“I didn’t want to try anything else without you, just in case things got heated.” Azul explained “I’m getting worried, it’s late and they still haven’t opened the door.”

In that moment a biting wind picked up, reminding us that the situation was getting urgent. I instinctively breathed into my paws leaving them feeling cold and clammy. I wondered how the coldness felt when you didn’t have fur, or skin for that matter, to protect you. Now, I was determined to get the items inside.

“You already tried knocking right?” Azul nodded “Let me try something more direct.”

Azul followed me wordlessly as I knocked on the door. I could feel Azul annoyed stare on me. I could almost hear her thinking ‘what the hell did I **just** say?'. But, I had an idea. For my own life experience I know that a hungry belly, no matter how reclusive, won’t reject food.

“Hello” I called into the small shed “Free food deliver for a mister Sans and Papyrus.” 

Tensed silence followed from both sides of the door. I’m not sure why Azul and I stood still, breaths held in anticipation. Like we thought a single wrong move on our part would cause a huge disaster. I just stared at the doorknob begging it to turn. 

And, to our relief, it did. Ever so slowly, a skeleton’s tiny frame appeared before us. It was the younger of the two brothers, the one I expected to be more enthusiastic. But he stood in the entrance with a scared demeanor, one that was similar to his brother’s. He looked different from this morning. His shoulders were slumped no longer having that prideful posture he’s wore since I’ve met him. His face was also downfallen, no more reflecting a care-free, childish expression.

“There’s something I forgot to tell you when you moved in” I bent down and picked up a cinnamon bunny “I deliver snacks from my store to everyone who has bought a house from me.” I placed the pastry in his little red gloves. His face lite up as he careful examined it, flipping it over and over. 

“I can eat it?” he asked in a quieter voice than I was used to. 

“Of course, haven’t you ever had a cinnamon bun before?” I flashed him a smile to try to ease the tension. Papyrus shook his head.

That’s when the second brother appeared. Further in the shed, a cautious distance from us, he turned the corner to see what was happening. I watched Sans’ feet shuffle awkwardly with his gaze fixated on the ground. 

With my attention on Sans, I didn’t notice Papyrus take a bite of the cinnamon bunny…with the plastic covering still on.

“Blech” He exclaimed and took it out of mouth.

“Oh sweetie, let me open for you” I grabbed the package noting to myself that Papyrus didn’t understand what I assumed was common knowledge. The dessert was somewhat ruined now. I tried not to get too many crumbs in the snow as I handed the little skeleton the opened cinnamon bunny.

Now Papyrus wasn’t too eager to try the food. He turned to his brother in the house, but Sans just gave him a shrug. Careful, Papyrus tried to take a small bite. Emphasis on try, his huge jaw didn’t allow for nibbles Once he had it in his mouth he tensed, expecting it to be as bad as the plastic bite. 

“It’s really yummy!” Papyrus yelled, immediately recovering his energetic nature. He quickly ate the rest in one bite “This is my new favorite food.”

I opened up another one and passed it on to the young monster. He hungrily gulped it down.

Azul watched him nervously “Have you boys been eating these past days?”

“Yes, but the stuff Sans feeds me is super gross” Papyrus quickly complained as soon as Azul asked the question. He had been waiting to vent on his past eaten meals. 

“Sans” I called “You can have one too.”

As I expected Sans made no movement or noise. His eye was on Azul, anxiously looking at her. It occurred to me that Azul hadn’t introduced herself yet. I lightly nudged her shoulder and nodded toward Sans.

“Oh, my name is Azul.” She introduced “I’m a friend of Digger. I came with her today because I needed to store away my extra bedding in the shed.”

Azul you are a genius! She scooted the blankets inside the shed right beside Papyrus’ feet. The little skeleton watched curiously but then got distracted by the food. Picking another one up, Papyrus trotted back to where Sans was and gave him the packaged treat. 

“All of these are for us right?” Papyrus asked a little too late.

“Yup and I make a free delivery three times a day” I told him with a bit of hesitation. If I closed my store three times a day the monsters who live in Snowdin would get annoyed. Well, it was time for them to learn to be patient anyway.

Sans, with slow and precise movements, tried to tear the wrapping off his treat. It was a struggle for him since he was treating it gently. Papyrus watched the scene unfold with growing impatience. 

“Brother” Papyrus grumbled “Let me do it.” 

Sans didn’t resist as his brother snatched the pastry away. Papyrus then tried to mimic my movements but his bony fingers and lack of hand-eye coordination was setting him back. When fingers didn’t work he started to tear it with his teeth.

The older brother watched Papyrus’ struggle and tried to take it back much to Papyrus’ anger.

“No, I can do it!” Papyrus tugged hard to get his brother to let the treat go. Instead, the plastic broke and the cinnamon bunny went flying before making a splat noise as it hit the ground.

“Looks like they’ll be able to figure it out” Azul chuckled. She gave the two boys a wink “Goodbye boys, see you later.”

She pushed the rest of the cinnamon bunnies inside their ‘house’ and started walking away. I wasn’t ready to leave just yet, but Azul was probably had the right idea. If we overstayed our welcome the boys would feel uncomfortable.

After some hesitation I caught up to her, stepping in line beside her. After we were a few feet away from the shed I heard the soft click of a door shutting. For a while we enjoyed a chilly, silent walk back to our homes. 

“Well” Azul said softly “It’s not a hot meal and a bed, but it’s something.”

I shrugged “It’s a step forward. A small step sure, but in the end I guess that’s all we can ask for.”

As we walked side by side I began mentally rescheduling my life around these skeletons. I’d have to start making and delivering actually meals. Eventually, I’d have to get them out of the shed and into a house with a bed. And of course, ultimately I had to find where they originally came from. Get them to their parents and real home. 

“Life going to change” Azul noted as if she could somehow she could read my mind.

“Yeah…” I trailed off “But if it’s for them, it’ll be worth it.”


	5. A new life starts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up to anyone who cares. This is the last of the daily updates I'm afraid. I'm not good at keeping schedules, so it's not going to be every Tuesday or something to that degree. But of course I'll still be uploaded so keep an eye out.

I clutched the take-out box closer to my chest, letting its warmth sink into my freezing bones. It was a particularly cold morning in Snowdin. The type that was perfect for staying inside and drinking a nice cup of coffee and watching the morning frost twinkling in the underground’s artificial lights. A perfect morning to be delivering a box of freshly made pancakes to a couple of skelly brothers.

Well, not really, but this was going to be the first of what I assumed to be many breakfasts I was going to deliver and it wasn’t a good idea to start complaining right off the back. Even if it’s just in my head. So, fighting my urges to retreat into a warmer place I continued down a growingly familiar road. 

Papyrus was outside sitting in the snow with a twig in hand. He was writing something in the snow with seemingly no mind to the biting cold. Maybe skeletons felt temperature differently, that would make me feel a little better.

“Hello Papyrus” I called “Your morning delivery is here.”

The little guy saw me then quickly turned away. He shoved his hands on top of whatever he was writing, acting like a kid trying to hide a mess they’ve made from their parents. I fought my curiosity and stopped walking, careful not to get close enough to see.

“Is everything alright kiddo?”

Papyrus shifted uncomfortably in the snow “Um, Sans said I shouldn’t talk to you anymore.”

That made me a bit mad “Why not? It’s rude for you not talk to someone who’s giving you free meals.”

He placed his pointer finger near his teeth “What does that word mean?”

“What? Rude? You don’t know what rude means?” I questioned. He nodded in response, looking up to me with eyes filled with inters. Seriously, who raised this kid?

“You know how sometimes you say something or do something that makes other monsters upset? That’s called being rude.” Not exactly, but it was the best explanation I had.

“Oh” the skeleton gaped in sudden realization “You’re very rude then Ms. Digger.”  
“Excuse me?” I asked genuinely offended.

“My brothers says a lot of things you do upset him” Papyrus explained “He says that when you give food for nothing in return it means you’re planning something bad. Which makes me sad because I thought you were a good guy.” 

He finished his statement with such a sadden expression that it almost made me blurt out ‘but I am a good guy’. But I held back the childish outcry and faced this situation more maturely.

“Your brother just doesn’t understand my business strategy” I rebutted “If my houses come with a free delivery then costumers will want to buy them.”

I could see the gears in his head spinning as he squinted at me. I guessed he was trying to figure out how one thing lead to the other, he probably didn’t understand the concept of market competition. But despite that, he took my explanation wholeheartedly.

“Okay then you are nice” his smile filled me with gratification. He looked down at the creation that he had been hiding. “Hey do you want to see something?”

A little too eagerly I nodded and stepped closer to Papyrus. He excitedly raised his arms, anticlimactically revealing some random lines in the snow. The little monster looked up at me, anticipation my reaction.

“Oh” I stared at the lines, trying to figure out what it was supposed to be “It’s very nice.”

He angrily crossed his arms. “It’s a puzzle” he grunted as if it was obvious “It’s not nice, it’s confusing. But I know why you couldn’t understand. My puzzle not ready yet but do you want to solve when it’s done?”

It sounded more like a command than a question. “I’d love to. I’ll be back for lunch and dinner so I can try it then. Speaking of meals, here’s your breakfast.” I lifted the takeout up to show it off.

Papyrus immediate reaction was to turn around and look at the shed.

“You don’t want your brother to know I’m here.” I guessed. Avoiding eye contact, Papyrus nodded slowly.

I sighed “It’s okay.” I handed him the box “It makes my job easier anyway if you deliver it for me. Can you make sure your brother eats some of it?”

“Yes” he jumped to his feet “I’ll give it to him right now.” As if someone had plugged him in, Papyrus ran to the shed at lighting speeds.

Not entirely sure what the rush was, but the more important thing was my job was done. One down three more to go.  
“Oh and Papyrus.” He stopped and turned to me.

“You don’t eat the box you eat what’s inside.” I wasn’t going to make that mistake twice.

 

It didn’t long for a pattern to form. In the morning, I’d make breakfast in the kitchen with the news on in the other room. After hearing nothing about missing children, I meet up with Papyrus who was working on the day’s puzzle. I chatted with him for a bit. Sometimes I’d say a word he didn’t know and he’d always ask for a definition. I’d give him breakfast and go back home.

About midday I’d go to Grillby’s to buy some lunch and maybe a beer for me. I’d ask around the restaurant if anyone knew any information about the brothers. Once again, I would receive nothing and I forced myself to leave with some fries and a burger. I chat with Papy, leave, and come back with dinner.

By dinnertime Papyrus’ puzzle would be ready. His puzzles were always mazes, and quite impressive mazes at that. For child quality anyway, an adult could still easily solve it but it was neat, had actual tricks, and plenty of dead ends. Definitely not something you’d expect a child to make with nothing but snow and a stick.

I’d solve it, praised Papyrus for his work, deliver dinner, and go home. Rinse and repeat, over and over. It was almost becoming second nature to me. With similar conversations and similar results every day, it was becoming as natural as opening my shop or getting out of bed in the morning.

It wasn’t until I’ve been doing this for a about a week did the pattern finally break.

It was during the breakfast talk, I was kneeling next to Papyrus right in front of his started puzzle. Suddenly, he had an idea and ran away from me and started drawing in the snow. That was usually my cue to leave, but I wasn’t physically ready to start moving again. So I knelt there, watching the little skeleton run around and work on his masterpiece. It was a very peaceful scene, me on the ground with Papyrus up and about. I was surrounded by fresh glistening snow. My ski pants and fur were protecting any frost from reaching my legs, so I could enjoy the view without the pain. 

The only sounds in the area were Papyrus small squeals of excitement and my own deep breaths. I closed my eyes for a moment, mentally blocking out all the problems and stress in my life so I could enjoy this quiet morning. A chill went up my spine as the sensation of calm resonated in me. 

When I opened my eyes he was there. Somehow without making any noticeable noise, he had appeared beside me. Not too close, of course, but he was here was outside with me watching as Papyrus ran around. 

Sans was outside, something I hadn’t seen him do since the day I meet him.


	6. I justed wanted to love you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray it's done! My longest chapter so far is done. I pretty proud of this chapter. Now we're getting into the meat of the plot so the next few chapters will be more exciting. I'll try to keep up the quick updates but I'm going back and realizing some of the chapters seem rushed. I'm been rewriting a lot of the past chapters so that's been eating up my time. The plot still the same so no need to reread anything. 
> 
> By the way, does anyone know how to make a line to separate paragraphs. I want those when I have a time skip but I can't figure out how to do it. Anyway here's the chapter.

I felt like I was asked to make a risky business investment. All my money was on the line, a single wrong move would result in a loss of everything. My heart was trying to escape my chest and I could feel my body sink deeper into the snow. If it wasn’t happening to me I’d be impressed that this kid could have such power without saying a single word.

I was in dilemma. I finally got the chance to talk to Sans, something I’ve been trying to accomplice for a week. The last time I had this chance it ended…poorly. So, what do I say? Maybe I shouldn’t say anything at all, but then nothing would advance. For all I know this is my last chance to talk to him.

“Um” was what I finally decided on. There was so many words in the English language and none seemed like the right one. 

What had I even done last time to make him so mad? I touched his brothers, but before that he ordered his brother come back inside. I tried to think back. I pretty sure I said something along the lines of ‘I’m bringing you home’. Okay, so just don’t talk about home. We had to have something else in common, something that was a good conversation starter.

“Papyrus!” I called out suddenly. It caused both brothers to jump and swiftly turn to me. 

“Papyrus” I restarted more softly “Is making a puzzle. Do you want to solve it with me?”

A nod was all I was given before retreating back to silence. Once again it was my responsibility to judge how long I should keep silent or if I should continue talking. I decided on leaving without another word. 

He said he’d solve a puzzle with me, that’d was enough for now. I could always try again during lunch.

 

The bar at Grillby’s was cleaner than you’d expect. It wasn’t a wooden counter like at my shop. It was made of granite and was for the most part spotless. It was smooth and felt cool against my cheek. 

Grillby was cleaning after the lunch rush. The last couple of monster went back to their jobs. Azul and I were the only ones left. I watched as he wiped away ketchup smudges and throw away used towels. He didn’t say anything about my floppy ears and head on top the counter. The bartender just simply wiped around me like he was used to heads on his counters.

“You seem to be doing well, Digger” Azul sarcastic comment filled the silence restaurant. She pulled up a stool and sat beside me.

“You okay?” She asked with giving me a friendly pat on the back.

“Yeah, I just needed a moment.” I sighed.

Three days. I finally had the chance to talk to Sans, he finally had the courage to go outside and I blew it. It had been three days since he came outside. Three days since he said he’d solve a puzzle with me. I’m not sure what I did, but I did it wrong.

I could feel Grillby shoving my take-out box into my shoulder. The only way he could tell me that I needed to leave.

Azul gasped “You’re still doing that?”

“Well yeah” I grumbled “I haven’t been able to contact their parents. I guess I should start to believe they were grown from the ground like the historian seems to think.” I forced my arms to lift myself up and grab my boxed lunch.

“Could I come with you today?” Azul asked following me out of Grillby’s.

“Yeah, in fact you’d probably be a huge help.” She gave me a questioning glance “You see, every time I try to talk to the older one I keep messing up bad. When I mess up he goes back to hiding out in the shed.”

“Why do you keep messing up?” she asked.

“Well if I knew that then I wouldn’t have a problem” Seriously what kind of question was that? “I guess it’s because I feel like I’m dealing with a ticking time bomb when I talk to him. I just don’t know what to say.”

Azul scratched the back of her head “I think you’re overthinking the situation. Children aren’t that difficult, all of them work on a simpler level.”

I turned to her “Not these children and you know that. You saw them last week, remember?”

“Still, they are just children” She pointed a claw forward to prove her point.

Ahead of us Papyrus was facing us, jumping up and down. “The lizard lady is back now three monsters get to try my puzzle! I bet none of them will be able to solve the tricky Papyrus’ maze of uhh…trickery.”

Azul giggled “Three? Is it so tricky that he himself can’t remember the solution?”

“No, someone else said they’d be hear. They aren’t going to join us though.” 

Even though Sans hadn’t left the shed in three days, his brother still had hope that he’d play his puzzle. At least, that’s what I thought Papyrus was talking about. It wasn’t until I got a bit closer did I see that there was in fact a third party. His one uninjured eye peered behind a door.

Azul seemed to notice him too “Oh, are you going to help us?”

No response, but at least he made an effort to move. I watched in shock and a bit of jealousy as Sans shuffled out the shed. I had attempted to this for days and now he finally response to Azul’s words. Still, Sans made sure there was a huge radius between himself and everyone else.

“Hello, do you remember me?” Azul called out “I never did catch your name.”

Sans stared at the ground, moving snow with his feet.

“You can’t catch a name, it’s not a snowball” Papyrus laughed. “His name is Sans and he’s my brother.” He said the last part with his chest puffed out in pride.

“I see” Azul was still looking at Sans “Come here Sans, I heard this puzzle is super hard I’m going need some help to solve.” Sans took a step back, alarm on his face. He quickly shook his head as he backed away from us.

I nudged Azul “Told you it wasn’t easy.”

She ignored me and stared at the skeleton thoughtfully “Are you scared of us?”

Sans shuffled the snow around with his feet, avoiding the question.

“Are you scared because you’re not sure of we’re good monsters or bad monsters?” Azul asked.

To my disbelief, he nodded.

How could he not tell? I was delivering free food to him every day. I know it was a childish argument but I knew if it was me, I’d be eternally grateful.

“S..” I couldn’t tell if he stopped talking or his voice got too quiet to hear. “S-sorry…”

“No need to apologize” Azul cut in “Everyone has trouble telling the two apart. Though your level of cautiousness isn’t very healthy.”

His rubbed his elbow with his right hand, seemingly fixated on some distance point.

This didn’t seem right. To him we should be friendly adults. Here in the underground there was certainly thins to be scared of but that’s why monsters relied on other monsters. Everyone down here was helpful and honest, so what was there to be scared of?

“Sans, did you know that every monster has a detector inside them” I suddenly blurted. 

I hadn’t spoke up until now because I didn’t want to scare away Sans again, but I had an idea. The same sort of idea I had when the brothers wouldn’t open their door. I’d hate to manipulate him again but leaving this kid with the illusion that everyone was evil would only hurt him.

“This detector helps monster sense if a monster is trustworthy or not. Yours seems to be broken” I knelt down so I could meet his eye level “It’s okay though. I know a way to fix it, but you’re going to have to let us help you.”

The flickers of blue came back. 

“You’ll never stop being scared if you don’t let me fix your detector. I promise I won’t do anything you tell me not to do. I know it’s difficult but can you trust me, just for a little bit?”

Cold silence. Silence that felt like the whole world had stopped. Even Papyrus seemed to understand how grave this situation was, his body stood still as ice. Sans gaze rested on his brother looking for support from the only person he seemed to trust.

“…Brother?” Papyrus tilted his head.

It was so slow and subtle that I couldn’t tell if Sans had made any movement. Luckily, he did it again with more force and resolve. Sans gave a firm, affirmative nod.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I didn’t know I was holding. “Well, I know what we’re doing tomorrow then.”

 

I’m not sure whose idea it was. I think me and Azul both spotted a baby calendar in my shop during breakfast the next day. It was one of those calendar where you’re supposed to write ‘I said my first words today’ and other mussy stuff like that in the dates. It started with both of us joking around but I think one of mentioned how we could write whatever we wanted. Then the joking turned into a conversation about a serious idea. That idea turned into a plan and that plan turned into action.

It could work, at the very least it was worth a shot. That’s why the two of stood in front of a familiar shed handing a little skeleton a present.

“It’s for your training” was all the explanation I gave him. I thought it be better if he figured the rest out himself. 

**Sans’ development calendar**

I wrote the name Sans in marker where you were supposed to wrote the baby’s name. I made sure to draw over the pastel hearts and butterflies with flames and other things that seemed more age appropriate. To be honest, the front cover just looked like a mess, but it was the intentions that counted.

He held the calendar in his hands for a solid fifteen before opening it to its first page. In the box for March 26 Azul had written and circled ‘Today I trusted two strangers’. I couldn’t see Sans’ face but I could hear him sniffle. I mentally slapped myself. This was a stupid idea. It was way too infantile for Sans this, he probably thought the monsters he finally put his trust were teasing. Why don’t I consider these kinds of things until after they happen? I’m such an idiot.

Sans finally looked up from the calendar. I expected an expression filled with hurt and betrayal, but that’s not what I got. I got a smile. Not the one he always had, but an earnest smile. One that brighten up his teary eye.

“T-thank you” A small voice said between sobs “Thank you so much.”


	7. Today I was in an enclosed space with an unfamilar monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone please check out these amazing fanarts [here](http://tmntlover4ever.deviantart.com/art/They-Just-Showed-Up-One-Day-NO-2-599923718), and [here](http://tmntlover4ever.deviantart.com/art/They-Just-Showed-Up-One-Day-And-Asserted-Themselve-598915801?q=gallery%3ATMNTLOVER4EVER&qo=2), Thank you so much TMNTLOVER4EVER for these.

That dumb calendar did wonders for Sans. 

Azul said kids strived to feel like their developing. Most kids got that feeling from school, peers, and their parents. But with none of those around to tell him he did a good job, he used the calendar as a substitute. Closest thing he had to parental approval.

Right after giving him the gift, Sans desperately wanted to have more of the boxes filled out. I had prepared this calendar thinking that I’d write major events, but Sans was impatient. So I ended up having to write every little thing that happened.

_Today I was in enclosed space with an unfamiliar monster._

To most monsters, this wasn’t an accomplishment. Definitely not something you’d give a gold star to a child for. But Sans was a different case. 

A little after I gave him the calendar, I met up with them during my lunch delivery. Sans was outside, but he was sitting in the snow leaning against the shed. He had his head hung up. His gaze fixed at the sky.

“So, were you able to nail your calendar up on the wall” I asked. I wondered if there was anything even left in the shed to nail it up. The memory of the tools buried in the snow was still pretty fresh in my mind.

“No” I was relieved to hear his voice being more assertive “It’s…on the floor.”

“Do you like it there or do you want me to hang it up?” 

“Wall! Sans please say wall!” Papyrus called from his daily drawing in the snow “It’ll be like that poster, but this time we’ll be allowed to touch it”. The kid’s eyes started to sparkle. He looked like he was so close to reaching his life goal.

Wait, what poster was he talking about? If there was a poster in the shed then I imagined they knew they were allowed to touch it. On day one I said everything in there was free game. So maybe he was referring to a poster in a different building. I looked to Sans for clarification but he immediately turned away.

“Yeah” Sans shrugged “I guessed it’ll look cool hung up.”

Curiosity was nagging me, but I knew that it be harmful to ask. Sans was finally trusting me and I wasn’t going to destroy our little progress.  
“Alright, wait here I’ll be right back.” 

So with no answers and more mysteries, I settled on taking a short trip to my shop to pick up some nails and a hammer. When I returned Papyrus was waiting for me. He held the door open and made a gesture inside.

“Can you really make the calendar fly on the wall?” Papyrus ask. I noticed that Sans was still sitting against the building not paying much attention to what we were doing.  
“Not exactly fly, but I can make it stick on the wall with a little magic” I winked at him and took his invitation to go inside.

I hadn’t been in here since the two moved in and I was surprised to see it hadn’t changed much. It was still looked like a community garbage can.

The bedding that Azul had given them was scattered around the room, all scrunched up and piled in small hills of blankets. The empty wrappers of the cinnamon bunnies were laying on these blanket hill summits. The crumbs and leftover frosting were carelessly spilling out of there plastic containers and seeping into their bedding.

Entering, I was immediately assaulted by a disgusting smell. It smelt like the guard dogs after a long days shift. It was so strong that I instinctually took a step back. Papyrus walked past me, completely unaware of the stench. 

“God Papyrus you two need baths” I pinched my nose to block out the sweaty smell.

“I buy them from your store later” Papyrus answered not understanding. He dug around the stuffy room and pulled out the gift I gave Sans early. “Hang it on the wall! Hang it on the wall!”

I sighed. Taking a bath would require them to go to my house. I mentally noted down that it was just another thing to work towards.  
“Alright” I stifled a chuckle “Where should I put it?”

“Uh, well I think Sans should choose”

I nodded in agreement it was his calendar after all.

“Hey Sans!” I called knowing he was on the opposite side of the wall.

"Yeah?"

“Come here I need you tell me where you want your calendar”

I heard a small grumble and the crunching of snow that lead to the door. He looked like he was about to join us inside but as soon as he saw me he stopped.

“Um” Sans squeaked “Actually no thank you.”

He returned to his reclusive nature. His shoulders rolled down and his arms near his chest, like he was trying to go into a fetal position while standing.  
“Why not?” I asked slightly annoyed. But my question was answered when I noticed the hammer I was flinging around in my hand.

“Oh” I stopped myself for saying shit. I quickly hid the tools behind my back “Sorry Sans.”

“It’s okay.” He said in a breathy voice.

“Are you scared brother?” Papyrus asked him.

He nodded but said “No, I’m just not used to being in a small space with Ms. Digger.”

“If you’re brave enough she’ll write it in your book thingy then you’ll be the coolest brother ever.” He gave his brother a thumbs up and an encouraging smile.

I was surprised at Papyrus’ perceptiveness. I had assumed that he no idea what Sans’ situation was. 

“No we shouldn’t make Sans do anything he doesn’t want to” I explained.

“Will you uhh” Sans small voice spoke up “really write it on the calendar if I come in?”

I scratched my ear “I guess so, but if you don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

Determination sparkled in his blue tinted eyes. Slowly, he crept inside keeping his eyes on me. Just shifting my weight from one foot to another caused Sans to flinch.

“Seriously Sans, I didn’t mean to make you feel obligated.”

Sans shock his hands “No, I can do it. I have to have my sensor fixed so I can protect my brother. Just… don’t move please. It uh kinda freaks me out.” 

I froze in place so he could rushed to the window on the far wall and pointed to the space next to it. 

“I want it here” He announced proudly.

“Alright then” I uncomfortably brought back my hammer and started to drive a nail into the wall. Sans stood next to his brother, watching my work in a frozen still stance.  
“You can leave if you’d like.” To me he had done enough just coming inside.

He shook his head with ferocious intensity “I can do it.”

This was some sort of goal Sans had self-implanted in himself. I was honestly impressed with this kid’s courage. I didn’t try to persuade him again and finished hanging the calendar on the shed’s wall.

There was something picturesque about the finished work. The pastel colored bubbles stood next to the view of the snowy forest. The white snow behind the shed had been left untouched giving it the appearance of a quiet blanket covering the ground.

I was admiring the view when I felt a tug on my pant leg.

“Can you” Sans was looking out the window “Can you write it down?”

I smiled softly “Of course.”

_Today I was in an enclosed space with an unfamiliar monster_

That level of trust was something most monsters were born with. Yet, Sans stood next to me taking deep breathes and holding a death grip on my pants. But his fear was contrasted with his overjoyed smile.

Somehow his delight in something so trivial made me feel a pang of sadness. I don’t what happened in these boys past, but I knew it wasn’t very pleasant. 

“Hey boys I just had an idea” the two bony face looked up at me.

“Next week me, Azul, and you two” I paused to build tension “Are going to Grillby’s.”


	8. Today I went to a new place with usual monsters

A soft glow enveloped the beaten snow around the restaurant. Being the best, really only, attraction at Snowdin the place was dazzled in neon lights. The frost bit at my ankles as I approached the illuminated restaurant. My hand was being forcibly shaken, not from the cold, but from a tiny hand wrapped around my fingers.

Going inside Sans’ house was one thing, taking him to Grillby’s was another. His shaky breath sent white wisps into the midday air. His cold body remained frozen, nothing but his legs moved. They marched in a slow tempo. His paces were even and mechanically like he was being controlled by a remote. 

Perhaps this was a bad idea. I hadn’t asked Sans to hold my hand or did I try to take his. His grip came when we were about half way to Grillby. It was the first time he’s ever touched me, but with his head fixed on looking forward I wondered if he even noticed.

Even Papyrus was a little nervous. When I met him this morning for breakfast, he was sitting in the snow playing with some pine needles.  
“Morning Papyrus! You excited?” I had called.

“Um…yes” His voice was sharp “What’s it like in Grillby? Is it one of those places where you have to do a puzzle and someone times you?”

“Ehh, no.” By now I was used to Papyrus saying weird things. I found that it was best to just ignore it “It’s a place where you sit and eat with other monsters.”

I was hoping this trip would show the brothers that the monsters of Snowdin were nice and trustworthy.

“Wow…that sounds amazing” Papyrus voice sounded on edge.

Now he stood next to his brother, near Azul. His straight face revealed nothing, but I could see him shuffling his scarf in his hands. Yet, there was some eagerness in his fast trot. There was a hint of excitement. Still, I could feel the anxiety coming off the brothers in waves.

Luckily, I wasn’t stupid and had planned ahead. I made sure to have the restaurant reserved for us. No, not just a table or booth. The whole restaurant was ours for about fifteen minutes. It was a lot ask of the regular customers to not come in today and even more to ask Grillby to not let anyone in for a while. But I explained the situation to the Snowdin partitions and their heart soften. Of course, I made sure to leave out details of the skeltons current resident. I didn’t want the entire town to bombarding the tool shed. No one should be there except for Grillby, one of his waitresses , and one drunk bunny who Grillby swears he can’t keep out.

Even still, this was Sans going to a strange place filled with strange monsters.

The muted sound of the juke box could be heard through the door. It perked Papyrus curiosity, he leaned in closer. I took ahold of the gold painted handles and looked down at Sans.

“Ready?” Honestly I was surprised he was even here. It was really Azul who had convinced him in the end. She explained that the establishment was for providing food and that was it. No hidden ill intentions. 

Sans gave a stiff nod.

“I’m excited” Papyrus breathed. This time he sounded like he meant it. Seeing the lively place probably melted some anxieties. I looked down to see if Sans felt the same. But, he was shaking ferociously.

“This is really your first time in a restaurant” Azul shot a sad glance at me “Well, it’ll be a lot of fun. I’ll even let you pick out a desert.”

Without any further hesitation, I opened the large bronze doors into Grillby’s. A warm blast air defrosted all of us. The warm atmosphere seemed to relax Sans. His posture became less tense and he stepped inside with natural strides. Any apprehension Papyrus had vanished in thin air.

“There’s so many seats. Which one do we sit in?” Papyrus asked while venturing in further.

The restaurant was relativity empty just as Grillby had promised. There was someone passed out drunk in one of the booths, but other than that all the tables were empty. But, despite the lack of monster, Sans still looked uneasy. Sans’ eye darted around frantically. All the new sounds and sights were overwhelming him.

“You can sit wherever you want.” I explained to Papyrus. I gave him a playful nudge “Make sure you pick a good one.”

He lifted a mitten covered finger up to mouth, carefully pondering his choices. He looked at the sleeping monster. She suddenly shifted in her slumber. Half opened an eye, she moved closer to the edge of the table, letting a trail of saliva hit the originally spotless floor.

“Hello” Papyrus was unnerved “What’s your name?”

“I ain’t teeeeeelling you nothing” her words were slurred “You have to *hic* give me yours fi-ii-irst.”

“I’m the great Papryus!”

“Soooo long” She whispered. She then closed her eye back up and started snoring softly.

Papyrus stood still, waiting for a response. After a while of growing impatient he shook her. “Now you have to tell me you name.”

Azul put her claws on his shoulder “You should let her sleep sweetheart. Just pick a table to sit at.”

He huffed in frustration, but didn’t aggravate her any more. Instead, he hopped into the adjacent booth. He sat on the side where he could still see the drunken bunny. Azul sat across from him and handed the little skeleton a menu. I heard her start to explain how to order food at Grillby’s. My attention then went to the other skeleton brother, Sans. Despite now being in warmer temperature, he was shaking slightly. Was even this too much for him? I can’t imagine the passed out drunk could be seen as a threat. Maybe Grillby himself was too scary. Looking down, I saw him hook a death grip on my pant leg. His other hand was clutched to his chest. 

I didn’t know what to do. Sans had never done something like this, and I had no idea how to comfort him. I had never touched Sans and I didn’t think now was the time to surprise Sans with something new. 

“Go on and sit next to your brother” I encouraged. My words seemed to break Sans out of his trance. Suddenly realizing that he was clinging to me, he let go and stepped away from me. 

Papyrus patted the space next to him “Come on brother. I going to order our lunch.”

Quickly, Sans shuffled to Papyrus and climbed up next to him. I followed and sat next to Azul.

A dog waitress approached our booth, a notepad and pen in her paws. Her tail was wagging wildly and her tongue rolled out her mouth.

“Oh my gosh you’re Sans!” She exclaimed. I tensed and shot her a waring glance. I had told her to be subtle around Sans. But she ignored me.

“I can’t believe you came her even though you were scared! Wow, you’re so brave” She leaped from foot to foot “Good job! Good job!”

Sans looked absolutely shocked. He stared at her in astonishment, but as the praise continued he quickly looked down.

That’s when the drunken monster behind me started to join in.

“Good job *hic* Sans *hic*!”

“Yay Sans!” the waitress cheered.

“Yay Sans!” Papyrus repeated. He started to clap his hand, but he didn’t get any noise out of his gloved hands.

“I’m so pro-uud of youuu Sansy"

That was the tipping point for Sans. He quickly pulled his jacket up to his face, trying to hid himself. But you could still see the bright blue blush shining through the fabric. His legs became restless, thrashing around as if to kick away his embarrassment. 

“Good job!” Azul and the waitress said in unison.

Sans shank even deeper into his blue winter jacket, a warm glow radiated brighter from his face. But a delighted sound came from him. One I had never heard him make. 

Laughter.

He was laughing so hard that he was snorting. It was the loudest I’ve ever heard him be. Papyrus joined in with his brother, though he had a confused look on his face. He didn’t understand what was so funny but he could still share his brother’s joy.

“We’ll take three burgers to go” I told the waitress.

She blinked in shock “You sure?”

I looked at Sans who was still hidden in his jacket fortresses. “Yeah” I replied “I think this is enough for today.”

She shrugged and wrote down the order on her notepad and left us there to waiting for our food.

Pretty soon we were walking back to the shed with a couple of take-out boxes in tow. Sans was in the same position as he was when we were walking to the restaurant. Right beside me with his hand in mine. However, it was different than before. His hand wasn’t squeezed shut, it was relaxed and gently rested in my paw. It didn’t feel forced or done out of fear, the whole transaction was done naturally.

Also like before, it wasn’t my choice. Sans had willing held my hand as we made our way back to his house. He was shaking still, but this time not out of nervousness. The adrenaline running through him was wearing off and he was left a shaking mess. A happy, shaking mess. His cheeks still glowed a light shade of blue, but he looked overjoyed. 

“So, how was it?” I asked as if I couldn’t see the clear emotions reflecting off his shining eyes.

“It was so much fun” he was breathing heavily.

“You know, I’m very proud of you” I told him truthfully. 

He stopped in his tracks, looking at me in surprise. “R-really?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I be?” I had known why I shouldn’t have been proud. Sans had went to Grillby’s. It was something a lot of kids in Snowdin did on a daily basis. But, I wasn’t aware that Sans knew that a parent shouldn’t be proud of such a small feat. 

Wait, did I say parent? 

Sans looked like he was about to reply when suddenly Azul called “Why you just standing there? You’re going to freeze. Come on, we’re almost home.”

Whatever Sans was going to say, he didn’t say it. Instead he trudged ahead. With our hands connected we walked home from our little adventure.


	9. Today I Moved Out of the Shed

Tiny fingers fumbled with the zippers of mini travel bags. Their small frames shook with anticipation and excitement. Each one worked diligently, focusing on gathering their few possessions into their arms and shoving them into their own dedicated bag. Aside for the few giggles, the brothers were absorbed in their task. 

I didn’t understand their laser focus or why they found importance in their packing. In fact, I didn’t understand why they were packing at all. From the looks of it, the skeletons owned nothing but the clothes on their backs. Yet, they still made sure that every object in the shed was packed away.

The sheets, cinnamon bunny wrappers, Papyrus’s snowball, nothing was safe from their hands. I stood quietly in corner watching. 

“It’s gonna be weird living in a shop” Papyrus commented “I’ll have to sleep in the blanket aisle.”

“I live in an actually house you know” I stated.

A week after we went to Grillby’s I finally asked Sans and Papyrus to live with me. It was getting to the point where I’d lie awake at night knowing that these guys were sleeping in here. It was surprisingly easier than I thought. I think they understood my urgency and they themselves probably didn’t want to live in the shed any more. But it did take some convincing on my part.

“Then where is it?” The brothers asked in unison.

“It’s connected to my shop” I explained “There’s a door in my kitchen that connects to the store. It’s like another room in the house.”

“So in other words, you live in a store” Sans remarked sharply.

“And you live in a shed.” I retorted which resulted in a tongue getting stuck out at me. “Hey all I’m saying is your current living conditions suck. I’m so relieved that you guys are living with me.”

“Not really living with you” Papyrus reminded me. 

When I was trying convince them to live with me, one of my selling points was that they’d get a cool room. Sans stated that it didn’t matter how cool the room was, he’d be uncomfortable having me in it. I was confused with that argument. I made it clear that I wouldn’t be sharing a room with them.

“How many times do I have to say it? Same house different rooms” I bent down and picked up their luggage. “I don’t want to sleep in your stink anyway.”

“It’s not really living together if you aren’t sleeping together” Papyrus argued.

“Sharing a room and living with someone is different” I explained but then sighed. What was the point if he wasn’t going to listen? “Come on let’s get going. The sooner we get settled in, the sooner we can eat.”

We took crunching steps into the snowy outside. Before we embarked, I turned back and bid a silent farewell to the horrible shed. The brothers copied my actions, turning back to look at what they had considered a home for about a month. I wondered weather they were also saying their ‘good-byes’ to it or not. I must have been hellish living in such a cramped space. We stood staring at the tool shed for a few moments.

“I’m sorry if this is a personal question.” I said breaking the silence “But did you and Sans live together before coming to Snowdin?”

“No” Papyrus answered crestfallen.

“Actually” Sans piped up “It depends on which living together you’re talking about. Sleeping in the same room or different room.”

“We weren’t living together!” Papyrus suddenly snapped at his brother. Sans stepped back, looking just as shocked as I was feeling. I didn’t Papyrus could get mad.

“We were separated” He yelled at his brother “and it was really sad because I couldn’t see you when I really needed to.” Then he turned to me, tears forming at the corners of his eyes “If you’re not in the same room you’re not living together.”

“I’m sorry. You’re right, I don’t know what I was thinking” Looking down, I noticed that the fingers were wrapped around my hand were trembling. I didn’t even remember grabbing his hand. 

“You two won’t be separated anymore, I promise.”  
0~0~0~0~0

“And this” I dramatically opened the door “Is your room.” 

The boys stepped into what was originally my guest bedroom. The walls were painted a baby blue that contrasted with the dull gray of the sheets and carpet. It was completely barren beside the twin-size bed tucked in the far right corner. It was a bad sight, but at least I had cleaned out all the evidence that no one had been using this room for years. 

Just like the shed, Papyrus ran around and inspected his new room while Sans and I watched. The younger brother found a part of the wall that caved in. 

“What’s that?”

“That’s a closet” I explained “That’s where your clothes go.” I looked over Papyrus’ outfit. I noticed a while ago that the skeletons hadn’t changed clothes since the first time I met them. “I’ll have to get you guys more clothes so you can fill the closet.”

Papyrus let out a sigh of relief “Then we can return these clothes. Sans said we were just borrowing them but I know that’s adult talk for steal.”

I shot him a glance “Who are you borrowing them from?”

Suddenly a guilty look washed over him “The royal guard.”

Huh? How did that even make sense? Why did the Royal Guard have children’s clothes? How were they able to steal from the Royal Guard? Every time I got a new piece of information about these brothers’ past the more confusing it becomes.

“What!?” Papyrus’ call brought me out of my trance “Where’s my snowball?” He asked holding up his now soaked bag.

“Looks like melted bro” Sans responded giving his brother a sympathic smile. “Luckily I heard there’s a huge supply outside.”

Papyrus sighed “That one was going to go in the middle of the room.” He took out more of his possessions out of his bag. “Where does this go?”

“The trash can” I remarked while taking the wrapper from his hand. “There’s one in the kitchen right now. I’ll put a trash bin in here someday.”

Papyrus seemed upset that none of the things he packed ended up in his new room, but his sadness was quickly evaporated by his curious spirit. He left the room so he could explore the rest of the house. Finally, I was alone with Sans. I wasn’t worried about Papyrus, I knew he quickly get accustomed to his new living condition, but I wondered how Sans was taking this.  
In this room he was more closed off to the rest of the world than he was in the shed. But, he would be closer to me.

“You alright Sans?” I asked softly.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

I didn’t answer. Sans haven’t betrayed the statement all day. He wasn’t nervous or scared. He hadn’t clung to me or his brother. He was a natural calm through the whole procedure.  
“I guess my only complaint is that it’s past lunchtime” he joked.

On cue, both our stomachs growled. “Looks like it’s time to eat.” I chuckled “Can you stay here and watch your brother while I go to Grillby’s?”

With me out of the picture, Sans and Papyrus could explore their new house with ease.

With a nod of confirmation, I left my house for the boys to have for themselves. Taking a left, I walked the familiar route to Grillby’s. I felt a weight lift off my chest. I guess it wasn’t until now did I realize that I finally got those boys out of that shed. A small sense of accomplishment rushed through me. But I knew this wasn’t time to celebrate just yet.

Next they need a bath, I’ll do that tonight. Then I’ll buy clothes and more utilities for their room. Eventually I get another bed so they don’t have to share. Oh and I’ll to take a trip to New Home with them.

I stopped in my tracks. Another realization hit me. Had I just accepted the fact that Sans and Papyrus were going to live with me forever. I had been trying to get them move in with me for so long that I had never thought about the implications of that action. Caring and raising children were drastically different things. Had I just accepted a huge responsibility? I suddenly didn’t feel hungry anymore.

A worried face appeared in my field of vision. It was Azul, her large, fearful eyes watched me. She must have saw me looking panicky and thought it was about Sans and Papyrus.

“The boys are fine” I called to her “They seem really excited about moving in. I’m just going to Grillby’s because too lazy to cook.”

I end my sentence with a cheeky smile, but Azul worried look didn’t fade.

“There’s someone in town who’s been going around asking about your whereabouts.” She told me with an edge to her voice.

I looked at her confusingly. I was never one to get company, espciellay from out of town. 

“Who?”

Azul pointed a claw behind her “He’s right there.”

I looked over her shoulder and saw a familiar monster in the snow. I almost didn’t recognize him at first. His attire had changed, he looked more professional decked out in a large lab coat and a tie. But when I made eye contact with him, unsettling memories crawled out of the recess of my mind.

It was the janitor from the Tree Historian’s office.


	10. Little Adventures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More fan art has been made by this [awesome person](http://tmntlover4ever.deviantart.com)
> 
> thank you for all the amazing works you do!

The white switch makes the light come and go. Which is weird because I thought only He could do that. But I now know everyone can if they flip the switch. The silver handle makes the water come, but I already knew that because I’m really smart. The box makes noise if you push the buttons which is something I didn’t know but that doesn’t mean I’m stupid.

My new house is so big that I can’t figure out what all these things do. It’s making my head spin round and round. My brother knows more about things than I do but even he was confused when we found the metal cylinder. I used to have one but I don’t know what it does because He would never let me touch it. 

Sans put his head in the hole at the top but then he put it out and made an icky face. It was so funny!

“I like our new house” I told Sans “It’s big.”

He chuckled “Yeah it is.”

That’s not the response I wanted. I pushed the noise making buttons again and I discovered that also creates pictures.

“Wow this box is so cool I bet even He would be like ‘all my inventions are super lame compared to this’” I do a silly voice when I pretended to talk like Him.

“Nah, he actually had one of these in one of the upper floors. It was bigger than this too. It was as big as the wall” 

I start to feel jealous, it’s so unfair that Sans got to see so many cool things. But then I feel bad about wanting to see the cool things. That would only happen if Sans broke down and I had to replace him. Broke down means dead and dead means I never see Sans again. If that happened I would be really sad because I always want to see Sans.

Next we go up the stairs (which wasn’t as fun as going down the stairs). There are two rooms upstairs. The one on the right is our bedroom so we open the one on the left. When we open the door I see that the room is identical to my new room. The walls are blue, there’s a bed in the corner, and there’s a closet too. But this room has a white floor that’s so fuzzy that I could sleep on it.

Then I see something weird. A door, a door inside a room. How strange! I open it and see that’s there is a tiny room inside. 

“A tiny room inside a room! Digger so silly” I laughed out loud. Sans came up beside me to see the tiny room. There’s only a big bowl inside and a towel hanging on the wall. This must be where giants come to eat soup. 

With everything seen, me and Sans go back downstairs and sit down on the couch in the room with the magic box. I let out a big huff of air and switch from exploring Papyrus to resting Papyrus. Sans sits next to me being all quiet. 

“Do you like it? Can we stay here?” I mentally said ‘say yes, say yes’ because when I say it in my head it sometimes becomes real.

He scratched the back of his head. That means he doesn’t want to tell me the answer.

“It’s not much better than the shed” He explained “The bedroom door doesn’t lock I already checked. This isn’t going to be a permanent solution. But on the bright side, it’s more hidden than the shed was.”

“And with three monsters they’ll be more time between sleeping shifts” I did quick mental math and found that we’d get to sleep longer in between shifts.

“Sorry bro but Digger isn’t going to keep watch with us” Sans told me.

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because what if it’s her turn to keep watch and she captures us while we’re asleep?” Sans says as if I should have already known.

That made me really mad so I balled up my fist and shook them at Sans “She’d never do that, why would she do that?”

Sans snorted “You just don’t understand how some monsters can.”

That made super duper mad because I knew that he was lying. “Yes I do, I’m not a baby bones. I know Digger would never ever hurt us.”

“Look one of these days Digger going to figure out where we came from. When that happens we can’t be friends with her anymore.” My brother explained.

I start to feel mad and sad. It’s hard to keep them both inside me. So sad comes out my eyes and mad comes out my mouth.

“You big dummy Sans! You lie and lie and you’re always lying. Digger is my first friend and you keep saying she’s a bad guy. I bet a lot of monsters you said we’re bad guys were actually good guys. We could have made many friends but instead we’re stuck in this stupid cold place where we can’t even sleep at nighttime.”

Blue flickers came out of his bad eye. That means I made him very nemotonial or tomotonial…eh something that means very sad. I started to feel very sad too.

“I thought that calendar was supposed to stop you from lying” I mumbled the last bit of anger.

“No Papyrus you just don’t und-“ he jerked upright “T-the calendar! I left it in the shed. D-digger going to be s-so mad.” He gripped on to his jacket super tight. 

When San freaks out so do I. My body starts shaking and my stomach goes all the way the floor but it doesn’t actually move.

“Digger just left for Grillby’s” Sans said with his voice all shaky “If I hurry I can be back before she is.”

I nodded “Alright let’s go.”

Sans held his arm out to make a ‘stop’ with his hand “No you stay here, if Digger comes back before I do tell her I’m in the bedroom or something.”

Before I could object he rushed out the room and out the house, leaving me all alone with the stinky metal cylinder.


	11. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey before we begin I just want to apologize for not responding to your comments. I've realized that responding to comments is a thing authors do on this site. The reason I usually don't is because I never know what to say. But I want you all to know that I read each and every comment I receive and I appreciate them all. Seriously, thank you all for your support and I'm sorry if I appear rude or ungrateful. I'll try to reply more often. Anyway, enough of my blabbering, here's a new chapter.

I watched as he trudged toward me, heaving his huge paws through the snow. His big furry arms clung to his own body tight. A low growl rumbled in his throat as specks of snow clung to his exposed face. He looked so helpless in the snow, yet my whole body was tense and defensive.

“Hey, I pretty sure you remember me” He snapped unfriendly.

“Um, I think so” I looked up at the ceiling pretending like I was trying to remember “You’re a janitor right?”

“Don’t play games with me.” He responded in a low growl.

Azul sidestepped closer to me lifting her arms in a protective manner. The janitor aggressive stance eased a bit.

“Listen” He started in a softer yet gruffly tone. “I really need to talk to you, privately. Somewhere warmer would be nice.”

Azul opened her mouth to object but I cut her off. “I’m headed to Grillby’s right now. You can join if you’d like.”

I didn’t know what this guy wanted but every fiber in my being was yelling at me to be cautious. I much rather have my eyes on the janitor than let him wander around Snowdin. A mental image of him stumbling upon Sans and Papyrus boiled my blood. 

“That be perfect” He grunted, rubbing his arms to get some kind of heat.

“Well, come on then” I said and started to lead him toward the warmer restaurant.

Azul watched us go, her face contorting in conflict. She looked like she was going to follow us at first but then decided against the notion. With a deep breath, she turned tail and headed back to her house. I silently thanked her for letting me handle this, but at the same time I wanted her to come back and support me. 

Once we were inside he stamped his furry paws on the wooden floor, trying to get all the snow chunks out from in between his claws. I sat down at the nearest booth and watched feeling a bit triumphant as he tried to shake all the frost from out of his fur.

“I hate Snowdin.” He growled.

My only response was a grunt.

I was relieved to see the restaurant was relatively empty. The drunk bunny was there, so was a group of dogs playing what appeared to be an intense game of poker. If anything happened, I wouldn’t be alone, but we could still a conversation without any eavesdroppers. 

After warming himself up, the janitor sat across from me. I quickly scanned his face, trying to figure out if he had any ill intentions. The image of him glaring me down flashed in my mind, but all I could see was impatient eyes waiting to get their order taken. The waitress left the kitchen and spotted me. Quickly, she bounded over to me and swiftly turned her head to my companion. I guess she was expecting Sans because once she saw the grown monster her tail dropped.

“May I take your order?” she asked in disappointed voice.

“Hot chocolate” he told her curtly.

“Same here.” It was probably for the best I didn’t order lunch for myself and two children right in front of him.

After leaving, the janitor turned to me.

“First things first, my name’s Howell.” He introduced.

A calm introduction was not what I expected. It almost felt anticlimactic after his sour mood and aggressiveness.

“Digger” I responded, lifting my eyebrow curiously. If he wasn’t here to settle his mysterious anger with me then why’d he want to talk?

“Now, I’m sure you know I didn’t come all this way for an idle chat.” He shifted his eyes to look at the surrounding customers “There’s a story I have to tell you. It’s a story not a lot of monsters know about. So it’s kind of a secret.”

Alarm shot through me. A secret? Why would he be trusting me with a secret? I sucked in my breath, waiting for him to continue.

“I told you that I used to work with the old royal scientist, right?”

I nodded.

“I was on the research team with a couple other monsters. It was considered a huge honor to be working in the Royal Lab. To some we were practically celebrities. But to Gaster we were nothing but second-class assistants. Much of his more important work was keep out of our hands.”

I frowned. I was immediately pulled into his tale, but it still caught me off guard. He was telling me his life story and I had only just learned his name.

Yet, my curious nature got the better of me. “Wasn’t that frustrating, not being treated like an equal?”

He shook his head “Like I said, just being on the team was a huge honor. Besides, we weren’t completely useless. I’ll have you know that I contributed to the making of the Core.” His eyes sparkled as he recollected his past glory.

“I’m not telling you this to shot myself down” he tone suddenly got darker “You see, Besides the Royal Lab there was another lab, a private lab that Gaster made after the Core. Emphasis on private. Many monster didn’t even know about it. I knew about because I was apart of the team. I was important enough to know of its existence but not important enough to go inside. All of the team was strictly prohibited from going near it.”

“And you just left a secret place like that all alone?” I asked in shock.

“Yeah, the whole team did.” He explained “Sure there was a burning curiosity, I’m a scientist after all, but Gaster was the boss. We respected him more than Asgore himself and in turn obeyed him like a God. We figured he was doing critical experiments in there and when they were complete he’d tell us about it.”

I winced “Don’t you think that a bit obsessive? He could have done whatever he’d like and you guys would never question it.”

He shrugged “He was a genius. His work has improved the lives of everyone in the underground. Our annoying questions just would have gotten in the way.”

A chill went down my spine. How could he just disregard himself in such a nonchalant way?

“Wait, didn’t he die?”

“Yes, unfortunately.” He responded with an edge in his voice. “Everyone working in the lab grieved. Because of the circumstances of his death were…alarming to the king, Asgore shut down the Royal Lab. It was a real tragedy. As you can imagine, some of us didn’t want it to end like that.”

“We tried to start our own lab, but without the proper funding we really couldn’t do anything. That’s when I got a bright idea. We didn’t need to build our own lab from the ground up. There was already a decked out one for us.” He chuckled “It had been a sacred place to us, especially with Gaster gone. It felt like if we went in there, we would be tarnishing everything he worked so hard for.”

“Did you…did you go inside?”

“Well, like I said before. We are scientist, we are curious. You can’t expect us not to do a bit of investigating. What we found was nothing short of amazing. The royal scientist had been working on a substance that could potentially reverse time. Before you ask, no he didn’t succeed in the end. That’s what the team and I our currently working on.”

“You serious? Like you’re saying you are going to make time travel possible?” My knowledge of the universe crumbled with that possibility. 

“Maybe, don’t count on it. We’re all working odd jobs right now so we can afford equipment. Plus, all our development has been stalled until we figure out a certain mystery. In his experiments Gaster had a key element that was the source of his testing. Without it we can’t continue. But what this key element is might disturb you.”

At that remark, the waitress returned and placed cups in front of both of us. Her disappointment of the lack of little skeletons was still lingering in her. She walked away without another word. Howell took a couple of sips letting silence hang in the air. He was giving me time to think about what he was saying, but I had no idea what to think. All I knew was all my senses were telling me that something was horribly wrong. 

“We found that he was indeed experimenting in his private lab. But it wasn’t just any research he was conducting. Gaster was experimenting on _living_ things.”

I chocked on my hot cocoa.

“And I don’t mean plants” he continued despite my coughing “I mean actual monsters.”

The hair on the back of my neck was bristling “H-how do you know that?” 

“Well, we knew that Gaster spend a lot of time in his lab, but he had a home of his own. Despite that, there were signs that monsters were living there. I found these two bedrooms, well maybe hospital rooms are a better name for them. The beds in these rooms looked slept in. It might not be a stretch to say that Gaster sleep in his own lab but why would he need two beds?”

“Second, Gaster documented all his experiment. That was usual for him, but here’s the thing, he seemed to leave out important details. That something Gaster would never do. He was always very through with his notes. The names or species of the test subjects were never detailed. It’s such a bother, we all wondered who in their right mind would volunteer to be experimented on.”

Despite the warm air in Grillby’s, my body was shivering. “How do you know anyone volunteered? It sounds like this Gaster fellow was trying to keep his experiments a secret. How do you know he didn’t kidnap someone?”

“That’s what I thought too, but think about it. When’s the last time a missing monsters report has been filled. Have you seen any signs or anything on the news?” 

That was true. I’ve watched the news every morning for the past five years and I had never seen any missing reports. Something like this would be huge news, there’d be search parties going through the underground. Nothing like that had happened recently. 

“So I’ve been trying to solve this mystery for quite a while. When suddenly I meet a bunny from Snowdin who knows of two monster that are somehow unregistered. Not only that, but they seem to have no families. Two monster that if they disappeared no one would notice.”

My heart thumped hard in my chest. Suddenly the reason why he was telling this story made sense. He couldn’t be suggesting…his implications…oh God no.

“Now, like I said I don’t like jumping to conclusions.”

“Well it seems to me your taking huge leaps” I growled at him. I hated him for even mentioning the possibility. I hated him for putting the idea in my head. 

“Don’t act so innocent” he snorted “I knew what you were doing in the historian’s office. When you found out that there were no records of them, you knew that the skeletons were special. That’s why you made up that stupid excuse that you were too busy.”

“That wasn’t a lie!”

“That’s why you’re out of your shops during the busiest hour of the day huh?”

I shut my mouth. Arguing any further was useless. 

“But the mystery doesn’t stop here. There still the question of where did Gaster get them from? Also, nothing is set in stone. There’s no proof of anything.”

“I sorry to interrupt you, but I just realized something. Didn’t you say both Gaster and the boys are both skeletons.”

He slowly put his glass down “That’s why me and the research team have a disturbing theory. As far as we knew, Gaster wasn’t interested in anyone. But he was the one who liked to keep secrets. This is why I have to ask you, please let me see the skeletons. I need to verify if our theories are true.”

“If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, then you have to go to waterfall quickly.”

Howell eyes widen, hungry for whatever information I had. “Why is that?”

“Someone picked up the boys about a week ago” I lied “Some lady from waterfall. I was reluctant to leave them with her, but the skeletons told me that she was their mother.”

“Wait, what?” He stood up from the booth. 

“She took them back to waterfall” I explained ignoring his question. 

“Y-you’re certain of this?” He looked so desperate, so close to a long awaited goal.

A nod was all he needed before storming out the restaurant in a frenzy. That wasn’t going to keep him busy for long.

There was no way I was letting that crazed scientist anywhere near my boys


End file.
